Oh how I’ve grown.
The recent separation of Chris Olson, former Chef de Cuisine from Parka, a restaurant in Minneapolis, has spurned interesting conversations about things they don’t teach you in culinary school. Olson’s original post was published on Eater, though he deleted it from his blog, and Chef Stewart Woodman elaborated through his blog Shefzilla.
Culinary school is like any other type of school. No amount of education can instill within a student a strong work ethic. Unfortunately, many other educational systems also don’t adequately prepare students for the reality of work, in a general sense. In restaurants, this reality will entail the intense schedules and physical working conditions described by the posts above. Outside of the restaurant industry, higher education doesn’t necessarily prepare students for the reality of work. That an expensive degrees won’t guarantee a job or that we’re not all as outstanding as our alma maters may have lead us to believe. No college degree can compensate for laziness, immaturity, or personality disorders.
College didn’t encourage me to have realistic expectations of days spent stuffing, labeling, and sealing thousands of envelopes. For the sheer boredom of a five-day work week straight out of Office Space. College couldn’t make me responsible enough to keep my desk clean. College certainly did not emotionally prepare me to answer the death calls from people whose loved ones just died, to be the first one to call them back, or to sit in my office staring at their ashes. These things I had to do myself, through baptism by fire. I got better with maturity and age. Through a painful quest for self-awareness that only I could initiate. May I confront these realities with increasing grace and maturity. They will return for me, again and again, and they return will for you. That’s the reality of life. It’s both harsh and beautiful.
Culinary School is, indeed, more forgiving of making mistakes. So was college. What might get you a tongue lashing or “C-” in school might put you on a progressive disciplinary path or result in termination from a real job. Like any other education, culinary school involves students who work their tails off and students who slack, burdening others with their shares of the work. Some of these slackers will graduate and the depressing fact is that we’ll all earn the same degree. The value of culinary school, or any school for that matter, revolves around the effort one puts into class. And not just into class, but the opportunities and work experience beyond the classroom.
I’m not delusional. I’m under no impression that I’ll wear a chef’s jacket upon graduation or be the next Food Network star. I would expect to earn any career by working from the bottom up through time, blood, sweat, tears, and a certain degree of luck.
I know what I am. A better-than-average home cook enrolled in a community culinary school with a blog. And I’m ok with that.
Culinary class days are divided into morning and afternoon sessions.
In our rice unit, we chose a partner and picked a variety of rice to cook and share with the class. We were given free reign of the kitchen and pantries to create a recipe of our choice. I made a deliberate effort not to be the Asian girl cooking Asian rice and chose basmati. We flavored it with caramelized onion, saffron, clove, and cinnamon.
The pasta unit was even more intense. Again, we broke into partners and incorporated homemade pasta into a dish. We were encouraged to spike the pasta dough with anything from pureed wild rice to herbs. My partner and I flavored our dough with sumac and lemon zest. Sumac, the culinary herb, is different than poison sumac. I’ve tasted it sprinkled on Fattoush, Lebanese pita salad, and as part of Zatar, a Middle Eastern spice mixture that often incorporates sesame seeds and thyme. It lends a tangy and lemony flavor.
We rolled the dough through a pasta attachment on a mixer, taking the time to roll it through each of the settings. This created silky, delicate pasta. Rolling the pasta through less settings produces thicker noodles. If this is your thing, just cook them longer.
To allow the gentle flavor of the pasta to shine, we served our noodles with browned butter flavored with fresh lemon juice, thyme, and basil.
Near the end of class, everyone convened for a great pasta buffet. One of my favorite pastas was flavored with bacon and cooked spinach and coated it in olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and hot pepper flakes. One group baked their pasta with chicken in tomato sauce while another made a pumpkin pasta in a sweet, creamy sauce.
Cooks Notes
I own a small, pasta machine with a hand crank. A mixer attachment makes the process much faster. While it was fun and surprisingly easy to make pasta, it’s not something I’d make on a regular basis at home.
You can start the dough by zipping the ingredients together in a food processor, but I think it’s easier to make by hand. Many students clamoured for a food processor. By the time they got one, those who made their dough by hand were already happily kneading.
Pasta
Ingredients:
1 pound bread flour (our teacher said you can incorporate semolina)
Optional: Drizzle of olive oil
5-6 eggs, scrambled
Pinch of salt
Instructions:
Enjoy these food-related odds and ends from my winter break.
Jake’s grandma passed away this weekend so we will head to the Twin Cities for the memorial service next weekend. When we return, winter break will end and classes will resume.
Ole and Lena’s Pizzeria, Westacres Mall, Fargo, ND
A blog reader recommended the original Ole and Lena’s in Rothsay, MN, about a half hour away on I-94 towards Minneapolis. There is a smaller version at the mall’s food court.
I enjoyed a piece of plain, cheese pizza. The crust had nice texture. Firm where it was supposed to be firm, chewy where it mattered, and floppy in all the right places. It also tasted a little sweet.
The slice was large and was topped with high quality cheese. Perfect for when I’m craving Cosetta’s-style pizza.
Citizen Cafe, Minneapolis, MN
During Christmas week, I met a friend for dinner at Citizen. She mentioned Citizen Cafe’s commitment to locally sourcing ingredients.
I arrived a little early and the staff was more than happy to let me pause at a table and sip a glass of wine until she arrived.
Our server brought a complimentary bread basket. The bread was served warm and accompanied by soft, whipped butter and a mysterious, vegetal/nutty spread.
We both ordered the portabella sandwich which was a steal at $9 (add .75 for goat cheese). The mushroom, onion, roasted red pepper, and squash were cooked nicely and the balsamic provided tang. The ciabatta was toasted and tender. Following the large holiday meals I had recently eaten, I ordered the sandwich without goat cheese, which I immediately regretted.
Sandwiches come with fruit, coleslaw or homemade potato chips. I ordered the chips and they were thin, unseasoned waffle crisps.
Overall, the restaurant had a weird vibe. Not unfriendly, but maybe reserved or curious? Our actual server had a warmer demeanor than the woman who seated me.
Nelson Bros., Clearwater Travel Plaza, Clearwater, MN
On our drive back to the Twin Cities, we wanted to grab a non-fast food lunch. A blog reader once recommended the deli sandwiches at the Clearwater Travel Plaza. I stopped for a caramel roll earlier this year and wasn’t impressed because it didn’t taste of butter.
I found the sandwich counter next to the bakery. The ordering system initially struck me as slightly overwhelming. I think I expected to order from a larger menu of set sandwich combinations, but the deli encouraged customers to pick their own bread, meat, cheese and sauce. Sort of like Subway. Eventually, I noticed a small sign advertising sandwich combination.
I ordered chicken salad but discovered I got tuna in the car. Fortunately, I like both equally.
The tuna salad was a little wet, but tasted fine. The vegetables tasted fresh and there were many to choose from. I liked the spicy mustard sauce and the bread was notably fresh. I ordered Jake a creation involving roast beef and horseradish sauce and he was pleased.
All in all, the deli serves very large sandwich for about $6. Ideal for those who like to customize, but putzier for those who are in a hurry or don’t feel like making a lot of decisions that moment.
Cafe 21, Fargo, ND
A fellow Fargo food blogger, FMFare, discovered a new Asian restaurant serving a fusion of Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese foods. Cafe 21 seems to have replaced Yuki-Hana, a Japanese/Korean restaurant. They serve pho and might be the only restaurant who makes bahn mi. The Asian and American Market sells bahn mi from the Twin Cities in their refrigerated section. I tried one once, and thought the freshness got lost in transit.
We enjoyed spring rolls, spicy ramen with vegetables and egg, eel sushi, beef pho, and flan. Fresh and affordable. Friendly service. Would not hesitate to return.
My only suggestion: Do something about the microwave prominently displayed by a large window facing the parking lot.
But more on this dinner later.
Carrying the suitcase makes me feel like an assassin.
I just bought a diamond steel so I can try to maintain them. There are two layers of knives and cooking tools such as a zester, channel knife, melon baller, and sewing needles. There are even a couple keys to lock the whole thing up.
We bought Dexter Sani Safe knife sets for class. The handles may be safe, but not particularly sanitary. They are indented with tiny grooves that may prevent slippage but trap debris. In class, it’s not uncommon for students to grab knives from cutting boards while the owner’s back is turned. Knives and other tools are borrowed, never returned, and run through the dishwasher.
These will never see the light of class.
An Ice Cream Maker
Our good friend gave us her ice cream maker. She had only used it once and just never got into it. I am excited to give it a whirl.
As always, your dining suggestions are always appreciated!
Within the last two weeks, I finished my first semester in culinary school, spent a weekend in Seattle, and traveled with Jake back to the Twin Cities to spend the holidays with our families.
Class wrapped up a couple of weeks ago and I spent my last mornings in baking lab. I remember making chocolate chip cookies, soft dinner rolls, Italian-style flat bread, and oceans upon sheet pans of Florentines shaped into little bowls. These lacy cookies taste more like candy, than cookies, since they contain butter, sugar, oats, and finely chopped almonds. The ingredients are melted into a batter and cooked until thick. Then, it’s dropped onto sheet pans and baked, where it melts into thin circles and caramelizes.
The Florentine fun begins once they are removed from the oven. Cook them too little, and they will crumble. Cook them too long, and they will crack. When they are pulled form the oven, the Florentines transform from molten hot to stiff as a board. The trick is to remove them from the pan and shape them at just the right moment. If you remove them from the pan too early, they will droop apart and if you remove them too late, they’ll be too stiff to shape. Despite our most earnest efforts, there were lots of broken Florentines.
Bowls of broken Florentine bowls. The first pieces we tried were heavenly like manna. Bowl breakage was followed by small nibbles. By the end of class, I never wanted to see a damn Florentine again. I completely ruined myself for Florentines and the thought of them still makes me nauseous. For the duration of that week, we garnished many desserts with shards of broken Florentines and I avoided every single one of them. The next week, Florentines made another appearance on our productions sheet. This time, shaped like cannoli shells. I let someone else do the honors and was unable to take even a bite.
These pistachio-crusted cheesecakes flecked with citrus zest received the most kudos and recipe requests from my classmates. I don’t often seek out cheesecake, but this version tasted refreshingly light. I will post my adaption when I get back to Fargo. It’s worth the wait.
A highlight during our last week of class manifested as a free steak dinner cooked and served by the faculty and staff. We were treated to a real, grilled steak accompanied by french fries, bread, salad, and ice cream. It was kind of fantastic. Except for the fact that I accidentally stood in the well-done line.
Then, on the last day of class, we were summoned to “field day” at 7 a.m. The second-year students divided the first year class and gave us cleaning assignments. These were kept strictly confidential until the big reveal on field day. It felt like culinary karma. Come late every day and leave early? You get to clean the coolers. Or worse yet, get banished to the freezer. Do you come to class, but leave your lab for hour-long smoke breaks or spend the mornings wandering around pestering other students? Have fun scraping the grills and cleaning the ovens.
I made out OK. This time.
After a lunch break, we took our final ServSafe test, which I just found out I passed. And two finals later, we said goodbye until next semester.
Currently, my husband and I are back in the Twin Cities spending the holiday week with our families. We haven’t spent this many consecutive days in Minneapolis-St. Paul since we moved to Fargo. My culinary bucket list is long and already began with a trip to Broders’ Cucina Italiana for our favorite Eggplant Special Pizza. Yes. This tastes like home.
Jake and I wish you all the very best as we celebrate Christmas this holiday week. I have a lot of ideas of posts to write and recipes to try during my break from class and work, but until then. . .
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